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Saracens chief’s scathing attack on English refs

BRENDAN VENTER launched a virulent attack on English rugby, its referees and standards of officiating on Saturday night. The director of rugby at Saracens was speaking after their defeat by Leicester and in a diatribe lasting 40 minutes, he castigated the game in England.

"This is a professional game but we can't get it right," Venter said. "We have no idea what is going on [with refereeing]. Everyone wanted to know why the game itself is dying. I want to shake the opposition by the hand and say they were the better team and that they outplayed us. But I can't do that."

Venter attacked procedures adopted by the refereeing authorities and the rampaging inconsistencies that are afflicting the game at the breakdown. He declared that refereeing decisions at the breakdown now appeared to be completely random. "You get a penalty, then they get a penalty."